Crunch Thin Mints review

I've written a bit about them before, but now we've finally got one for review on Walking the Candy Aisle, let's check in with Nestlé's Crunch Thin Mints bar.

Wait Crunch Thin Mints you say?! Yes, these are the very same Girl Scout / Nestlé superfriends cookie bars that we've been hearing about. They are only here for a limited time so if you are even at all curious about this one you'll have to act fast. These chocolate bars will reportedly only be around through the summer of 2012 and be gone after Labor Day. Since I know there is a lot of interest right off the bat I'll say you can find out more, including where to track these bars down, on the Nestlé Facebook page.

What I can't find out, and really what interests me is the circumstances around how this came to be. Sure I've read the official press release, and watched the commercials, but I'd love to get some insight into what sort of deal was struck behind closed doors on this one. What sort of a split each group is taking on the bars, and why exactly the girl scot cookies were paired with Nestlé's Crunch bar in the first place. Surely Nestlé has the capacity to make a Thin Mint chocolate bar without the Crunch influence or branding... Its all very interesting.

Lets move into this review then, shall we? The packaging is a bit busy, but I suppose they do have a lot to convey. They need to make sure the Girl Scouts info is prominently displayed. For my money that's the obvious draw here. I mean people know what a Crunch bar tastes like... this is novelty pure and simple.

We've got another case of two small bars in a single wrapper here, but at least thematically I'm ok with it on this one since if it were a cookie you've have lots in a package. And seeing how popular these are I've no doubt many people buying this bar will end up sharing it.

The chocolate itself smells decent, and a little minty. As you can see in the picture there are the trademark Crunch crispies bulging up through the top, but otherwise this chocolate bar is pretty unassuming. So I'm eager to get to the good part.

Biting into the bar is an unexpected experience. Although I definitely like thin mints, as far as I remember they don't taste like this. Sorry strike that, they taste very similar to this, they don't feel anything like this at all. So heres the breakdown. On the top you've got dark chocolate and crispies, thats followed by a layer of mint chocolate goo. That is the part that tastes like a thin mint. Maybe a bit gooier, but its flavor is spot on. The problem comes next though. If this is supposed to replicate the Thin Mint experience in a chocolate bar form it doesn't succeed. The wafers here are precisely that, wafers and not even remotely cookie-like. Thin mints are thin and perhaps a bit wafery, but not like this. The wafer here reminds me of those cheap off brand Chinese wafers you'd get in a huge pack from an Asian grocery store. good filling, cheap wafers.

And while I can't say it really detracts from the experience to have Crunch bar elements foisted upon me, like these crispies, I'm left scratching my head. Other than to make money why does this exist? And more importantly, why did they make it this way?

To be clear this isn't a bad chocolate bar, its just not very representative of what its purporting to be. I'm prety sure I'd like a thicker cookie like experience instead of the wafers found here, but I'm not turned off by it. And the bar really does taste like a Thin Mint.

I suppose I'm a bit mixed on this one in the end. For the sake of novelty, and because I honestly believe the Girl Scots are a great cause I have to say if you have any interest in this, please go pick one up before they're gone.For me, well I think I've had enough.

Walking the Candy Aisle rates Crunch Thin Mints - 3 / 5

For more on these Crunch bar, Girl Scout cookie mash ups, please check out the Nestlé Facebook page.